Podcast
AI for Growth: Lessons from Leaders
Hosted by Megan Driscoll · EN
"AI for Growth: Lessons from Leaders" is a podcast that demystifies AI for business owners. Each episode features conversations with business leaders who share their experiences, covering the good, the bad, and the ugly of AI implementation. The podcast aims to help businesses understand how and where AI can effectively scale their operations, focusing on practical insights rather than just hype.
10episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
AI for Growth: Lessons from Leaders Dr.Karen Jacobs
2w ago00:33:49Tap to summarizeDr. Karen Jacobs is an occupational therapist with a career spanning over four decades. She is the Program Director of the post-professional doctorate in occupational therapy program and a Clinical Professor of occupational therapy at Boston University’s (BU) Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences.She holds a Doctor of Education (EdD) degree from the University of Massachusetts, a Master’s degree in occupational therapy from Boston University and a bachelor’s degree from Washington University. She has expertise in various areas, including ergonomics, artificial intelligence, online education, and advocacy. Her passion for enhancing occupational performance has led to extensive research, publications, and presentations worldwide.As a Fellow of the American Occupational Therapy Association (FAOTA), the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES) and the International Ergonomics Association (IEA), Dr. Jacobs has been recognized for her outstanding contributions as a scholar, professor, advocate, and mentor, who has inspired countless students and practitioners.Throughout her career, Dr. Jacobs has held leadership positions such as the president and vice president of the AOTA contributing to the growth and development of occupational therapy at both national and international levels and received awards including being a 2005 recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship in Iceland, the 2011 Eleanor Clarke Slagle Lectureship Award, the AOTA 2020 Outstanding Mentor Award and 2024 AOTA/AOTF Presidents' Commendation in Honor of Wilma L. West.Dr. Jacobs has authored numerous publications, including books, chapters and articles and is the founding editor-in-chief in 1990 of the journal WORK: A Journal of Prevention, Assessment & Rehabilitation. She has co-authored 21 children’s books. She is an advisor to KorroAI.
Transcribe →AI for Growth: Lessons from Leaders Jason Kraus
4w ago00:34:48Tap to summarizeJason Kraus is the Founder and CEO of Prepare 4 VC, where he works with early-stage founders—from pre-seed through Series A—to become investor-ready, sharpen their narrative, and scale with clarity and confidence. Under his leadership, founders in the program have raised over $480 million in capital while developing stronger decision-making, leadership discipline, and a deeper understanding of how to operate on both sides of the fundraising table.Jason is also an active venture investor through EQx Fund and Equity Venture Partners, with more than 20 investments spanning technology, life sciences, and proptech. His experience as both an investor and advisor informs his core belief that the most important asset in any venture is its people—and that high-EQ leadership is what ultimately turns ordinary ideas into meaningful, scalable solutions.Beyond his work with founders, Jason serves as Director of Startup Grind Boston, where he brings together entrepreneurs, investors, and operators for candid conversations about building and scaling companies. He is also the author of Venture Forward: Lessons from Leaders, a collection of real founder stories focused on resilience, perspective, and conviction in the face of uncertainty.
Transcribe →AI for Growth: Lessons from Leaders John Hayes
Jun 300:31:11Tap to summarizeJohn is a Board-Certified Family & Lifestyle Medicine Physician who spent years prior as a chiropractor & nutritionist working primarily with physicians and surgeons. He helped thousands during illness, surgeries, and debilitating spine and joint pain regain their health through comprehensive care often including manual therapy, nutrition, and laser. Years of research led to the development of his company NeuropathyDR® and the NDGen® treatment systems now used worldwide to better help those suffering from neuropathy, chronic pain & related illness. His work with the sickest led to the completion of Medical School (USAT, Montserrat), where he graduated Summa Cum Laude. John completed Family & Lifestyle Medicine Residency at St. Lukes's Anderson, in Easton PA. He is the first ever MD to complete their Osteopathic Training program as well.John's major purpose now is to help those who desire his unique skill set and years of experience with full spectrum Direct Primary Care & Integrative Medicine unavailable anywhere else.John also trains Physicians & PT's how To Incorporate his Research Based Care for Neuropathy, Chronic Illness & Pain Patients from around the world have visited his practice.
Transcribe →AI for Growth: Lessons from Leaders Sarah Mason
May 2000:27:41Tap to summarizeSarah Mason is the founder and owner of Cape Cod Nail Co., an award-winning nail salon and 21-free nail polish brand inspired by life on Cape Cod. What began as the Cape’s first mobile nail salon in 2016 has grown into a thriving multi-location business known for healthy nail care, exceptional sanitation standards, and a strong sense of community.Sarah is passionate about redefining the nail industry through education, ethical business practices, and products designed to perform without compromising nail health. In addition to leading her growing brand, she is the founder of Colors for Causes, a purpose-driven initiative using nail polish collections to support nonprofits, scholarships, and community impact projects.Known for her honest storytelling, creative marketing, and approachable leadership style, Sarah shares the realities of entrepreneurship, balancing business growth with motherhood, and building a values-driven brand from the ground up on Cape Cod.
Transcribe →AI for Growth: Lessons from Leaders Howard Zonder
May 1300:30:33Tap to summarizeHoward's entrepreneurial journey spans a career in tech, media, and real estate. After serving as Chief Marketing Officer of a publicly-traded media company, he turned to real estate investing and closed hundreds of transactions. To scale his investing activities, he founded LandSpeed — developing CRMs and pricing tools that became widely popular with land investors across the country. That experience as both a practitioner and a builder gave him a unique lens on what real estate professionals actually need — and earsnax is the answer.
Transcribe →AI for Growth: Lessons from Leaders Julie Foster
Apr 2900:26:54Tap to summarizeJulie Foster, is the founder of A New Path Life & Grief Coaching. She helps adults navigate grief, loss, and life’s toughest transitions with a mix of compassion, real-life experience, and practical tools that actually help.Julie has a Master’s in Mental Health Counseling from Bridgewater State University and has spent over 10 years working as a mental health counselor in the substance use disorder treatment field. She’s also a certified Grief Recovery Specialist, an ICF-trained Life Coach, and a certified Grief Educator through David Kessler’s program.Julie’s work is deeply personal. After losing her mother to glioblastoma in 2018, she went on her own healing journey and discovered the grief recovery methods she now teaches to others. Along with her professional background, she also brings more than 23 years of sobriety to the work she does today.She’s passionate about helping people move through grief in a way that feels supportive and empowering. Julie serves on the Women’s Wellness Committee at The JPH Organization in Marshfield and volunteers at Hope Floats Healing & Wellness Center in Kingston, where she co-facilitates a parent loss support group.
Transcribe →AI for Growth: Lessons from Leaders Sergei Pull Pustylnikov
Apr 2200:36:22Tap to summarizeSergei is the founder and CEO of 100XBIO, a Boston-based startup automating cell biology. An immunologist with 20 years of R&D experience, he previously led preclinical research for oncology and mRNA vaccine projects. He believes we cannot accelerate biotech while most lab experiments are still run manually. Sergei is now building a "one-click" benchtop instrument to make life-saving research 10x more efficient and research infrastructure AI-ready. Automating complex workflows is the only path to truly AI-driven biology labs.
Transcribe →AI for Growth: Lessons from Leaders Jeff Sigel
Apr 1500:34:33Tap to summarizeJeff Sigel is passionate about creating better work environments and more fulfilling careers for middle managers everywhere. After over 20 years of corporate experience in top US food manufacturing, grocery retail, and restaurant companies, Jeff coaches mid-level leaders and supports companies looking to empower their middle management teams. He is the author of “The Middle Matters: A Toolkit for Middle Managers.” When not coaching or writing, Jeff is the CEO of Twinning Edge, a company focused on enabling small business growth by leveraging AI, automation, and "digital twins." He speaks and trains mid-to-senior level executives on ways to leverage AI to become more effective and productive people leaders.
Transcribe →AI for Growth: Lessons from Leaders Tamara Asselta
Apr 800:36:47Tap to summarizeTamara Asselta is a strategic operations and business growth leader based in Portland, Oregon, with over 15 years of experience turning complex organizational challenges into scalable, revenue-driving, high-performing systems. She is the founder of Stratas Consulting, where she partners with startups and mid-market companies as a fractional strategic leader stepping in to build teams, coach managers, implement emerging technologies, launch new services, and guide organizations through growth and change.Before founding Stratas, Tamara spent nearly eight years at Adswerve, where she built the company's Adobe Services practice from the ground up, scaling it to over $8M in annual revenue and earning Adobe Emerging Partner of the Year two years in a row. As Senior Director of Professional Services, she led a 30+ person organization, managed a $13M+ consulting portfolio, and served as a trusted advisor to C-suite executives across Fortune 500 companies in healthcare, finance, retail, and tech.Her career has always been defined by the intersection of people and performance. Whether she's coaching a first-time manager through a tough conversation, restructuring an organization for greater agility, or helping a leadership team finally trust their data. Tamara brings both analytical rigor and genuine human care to every engagement.When she's not building organizations, Tamara can be found under a barbell as a recent powerlifter, on two wheels exploring new roads by motorcycle, or bringing people together in community. She's ridden across Spain and parts of the United States and yes, she'll probably tell you the story if you ask.
Transcribe →AI for Growth: Lessons from Leaders Philip Cripe
Apr 100:33:06Tap to summarizePhilip Cripe is a strategist, entrepreneur, and advisor working across technology, business development, and geopolitical analysis. He founded CripeHub Solutions and also runs belkin.marketing, a reviews-focused LLM business reputation and discoverability platform, while advising on practical digital and cross-border issues. Hands-on experience in technology, politics, business, project management for over a decade for each sphere separately. Bridges all of that experience to solve complex and unusual problems for clients and partners. Currently writing a research paper about the best practices in running elections.
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